How can I willingly invest in people, knowing they are going to let me down, hurt me, or eventually die? Is it worth it to set myself up for all that pain and rejection?
Unless…I've had it all wrong. All the times I've waited for people to live up to my hopes and expectations—friends, kids, parents, and husband—maybe those people aren't here for me. Maybe I'm supposed to be here for them. Just maybe God put me in their lives to help them and teach them, and not to get focused on what I want or what I get out of the relationship. Maybe they're not capable of giving any more than they do, because, like me, they're operating out of empty places.
And when I turn it around like this, I should expect to be let down, but that's okay, because I know where to go to get picked back up and filled up. And I can love a little bit recklessly, without fear of rejection, because my hope isn't in these people. My hope is in the One who will never disappoint.